Investigations in the North Asasif necropolis, conducted by a team of Polish archaeologists in 2015, focused on three Middle Kingdom complexes: MMA 508/TT 311, MMA 511, and MMA 517/TT 240. A surface collection of finds from the courtyards was studied and prepared for storage, and artifacts from inside the tombs were documented. The overall picture of illicit penetration of the complexes in later periods and their reuse, mainly in the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period, is supported by the finds. Moreover, proof of the presence of Coptic monks was found in tomb MMA 517/TT 240.
In the third season of the Polish Asasif Project at the North Asasif Necropolis in West Thebes archaeological fieldwork concentrated on six of the Middle Kingdom rock-cut tombs: MMA 508/TT 311, MMA 509, MMA 512, MMA 514, MMA 515 and MMA 517/TT 240. The corridors and chambers were cleared and the architecture documented and restored. A surface survey was carried out on the slope. Of greatest interest among the finds are Middle Kingdom stonemason’s tools and cartonnages from the Third Intermediate Period.
The early Middle Kingdom mortuary complexes of Khety and Meru continued to be the main research target of the Polish Archaeological Mission to North Asasif in the two winter seasons of 2018/2019 and 2020. The rubble dump on the eastern side of Khety’s forecourt, left over from the 1922/1923 season, was now explored, leading to the discovery of hundreds of objects—fragments of wooden statues and models, cartonnages and coffins, shabti figurines and pottery—shedding light on the Middle Kingdom burial assemblages as well as the later usurpation of the tomb, mainly in the Third Intermediate Period. Conservation objectives included treatment of the decorated burial crypt and sarcophagus in the tomb of Meru and stabilization and cleaning of the plaster decoration in the mortuary cult chapel of Khety. The season in 2018/2019 was also devoted to a reconnaissance of the underground structures and protection of tomb MMA 507. Specialists studies of finds from the excavations, both recent and earlier, were continued.
In the 2013/2014 season, a Polish team from the University of Wrocław started work in the northern part of the Asasif necropolis, near the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari. An archaeological survey was carried out on the Asasif slope. Cleaning work and documentation were undertaken of the architecture of four private tombs: MMA 509/TT 312, MMA 512, MMA 513/TT 314 and MMA 514, as well as the archaeological finds thereof. The rock-cut tombs belong to a Middle Kingdom necropolis and were all reused in later times, especially in the Third Intermediate Period and Late Period.
The recent works in the 2017 season at the North Asasif Necropolis have led to the discovery of Middle Kingdom burial assemblages, as well as funerary equipment dated to the Third Intermediate Period. Besides, the cleaning work conducted in the funerary complex of Meru revealed more materials from the Late Roman Era, which proves the existence of the Coptic hermitage inside the tomb. This new archaeological evidence provides an important insight into the development of the North Asasif Necropolis during the Pharaonic era and in later periods. The fourth season of the archaeological fieldwork at the site focused on seven Middle Kingdom funerary complexes: tomb of Khety (TT 311), MMA 509, MMA 511, MMA 512, MMA 514, MMA 515 and tomb of Meru (TT 240).
Excavations in the area of tomb MMA 1152 at Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, conducted since 2003, have uncovered a substantial set of faience objects coming from burials made there during the later Pharaonic Period, before the tomb became a hermitage for Coptic monks. Analysis of the material points to several episodes of reuse of the original Middle Kingdom structure in the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.